A Cursed Life of Loneliness
by Shadow Labrys
Summary: After witness Jaune resolve an issue with Cardin, Ruby hears a voice in the distance. After investigating where the voice came from she finds a Faunus in the middle of the forest of Forever Fall. Whose entire goal is to stop the White Fang from ruining it for the ones who only want peace.
1. A Misunderstanding

**AN: I've been working on for the past three years, and since RWBY Volume 5 is pretty much here I decided to finish this. It didn't help that I forgot I wrote this, and the story ended up changing a few times too.**

* * *

A lone girl, in the red forest of Forever Fall, slumped down against one of the trees somewhat tired from the travelling and fighting she has done since her graduation at Sanctum back in Mistral. Sensing no danger nearby the girl closed her eyes trying to get some sleep. " _You_ _should take cover in one of those ruins, Iris."_

"I'm fine here!" Iris shouted.

 _"Alright, just get some rest, okay?"_ It didn't take long for her to fall asleep from how tired she was from travelling.

Not long after a girl in a red cape pushed past some bushes after hearing some voice that she didn't recognize. "Is there somebody here?" She called out but didn't get a response. "I thought I heard a voice not too long ago." She gasped as she noticed a girl lying against a tree. Without a second thought, she rushed over to the girl. She dropped to her knees and began to check for injuries. Lucky, she wasn't able to find anything that could be alarming to her. The sleeping girl wore a short-sleeved black jacket with blue-ish violet accents and a lavender turtleneck sweater underneath a silver breastplate on top. Around her neck was a deep indigo scarf that somewhat covered a small golden amulet with engravings of Hunter and Huntress back to back on it that rested on top of the breastplate. The silver forearm guards that rested above her jacket sleeves had engravings of a floral pattern along the edges. A blue-ish violet cloth with a black flower symbol that blooming and wilting on it hanged off the left side of her hip. She also wore light grey pants with a brown belt that five pouches attached to it and dark grey boots. The girl looked at the sleeping girl's face but was only able to see half her face since her purple hair covered the right side of her face. She reached up to brush the girl's hair to the side to see if there's anything serious that needs attention. But her finger brush against something that felt like leather. Before she began to wonder what could it be the sleeping girl began to shake in her sleep. She stopped when her black hat fell off her head and revealed the animal ears on top of her head that began to twitch. _'Faunus? Cat Faunus.'_ The sleeping Faunus started to mumble something about some kind of monster.

Her sudden waking up startled the caped girl. Still feeling a little groggy from the small nap, Iris noticed someone kneeling down next to her and the next she noticed it was a girl, but it was like her mind was playing tricks on her. The girl had silver hair and blue eyes, but the light was making it somewhat hard to see her features, but there was no mistaking it. "Y-You? You... can't be..." But her vision started to go back to normal and she noticed the girl was gone and somebody else stood next to her. She reached for the spear on her back, and changed it to its gun form, which happened to be a small thin crossbow and aimed it at what appeared to be a girl in a red cape.

"Who are you!" Iris knelt down while still aiming at the mysterious girl and picked up her hat once she noticed that it fell off.

The girl in the red cape raised her hands as she answered. "I-I'm Ruby Rose!"

 _'Rose? Why does that name sound familiar?'_ Iris thought. "What were you doing to me?"

"I-I was checking up on you! You seemed a little hurt so I was worried!"

"Yeah right! Like I'll believe that. You're probably one of those goddamn bandits that prey on the innocent!"

"I-I'm not! I swear!" The girl, Ruby, lowered her hands slightly.

"I don't believe you! All you humans are the same! You show no remorse to us Faunus!"

"I'm not like that, I swear! What's your name?" Iris lowers her weapon a little because for some reason she felt like she could trust this strange girl but she ignored it and aimed it back at Ruby.

"...I don't need to tell you." She said. "Now, tell me what you were really doing?"

"Ruby? What's going on over here?" Once she heard a voice come from somewhere near the trees behind her, she turned around and fired at the direction of the voice. The bolt hit the tree right next to the blonde haired girl.

"Whoa!" The blonde said shocked, not expecting to get shot at so suddenly. The shock soon turned to anger as the mysterious girl in front of her aimed gun at both her and Ruby. "Hey! What are you doing to Ruby!?" The blonde yelled as she took a couple of steps forward.

"Hey! Back away!"

"Leave her alone then!"

"Why would I?" Iris was about to say something else, but the blonde girl charged at her, angrier than before. Iris fired at the blonde but she was able to dodge all of the bolts.

"Yang! Stop it! It's a misunderstanding!" Ruby pleaded Yang to stop, but it fell on deaf ears.

 _"You sure about this, Iris?"_ A voice said in her head.

"Of course! We don't know anything about these two! We don't have to trust them. They could be scum for all we know." Iris reached into one of her pouches and pulled out a small container that had a small lightning bolt on it and once she popped it on the crossbow it auto loaded itself. She waited for the right moment as the blonde brawler ran towards her and once close enough her left eye started to glow purple. Yang threw her punch but was surprised when her punch didn't connect. She continued her assault with a series of punches, but every one of them didn't make contact. The way she was moving it was like she could predict her every movement. Iris swept Yang off her feet and before she could hit the ground Iris' boot made contact with Yang's stomach, and the force of it was enough to send Yang flying in the air crashing into a nearby tree. Yang slammed her fist on the ground in anger before she picked herself up and continued her assault. Yang kept up her guard as she dodged the dodge the bolts as best she can which once it made contact with the ground discharged electricity. Yang brought her arm back and shot it forward and fired a shell from her gauntlets. Iris dodged as she popped the bolt case and transformed it back into a spear while she readied herself for the battle.

During the fight, Ruby watched as they clashed against each other but she didn't notice that her other teammates arrived after hearing the commotion. "What's going here?" Ruby's white-haired teammate asked.

"Weiss..." Before Ruby could say anything else Weiss noticed Yang fighting someone she never met before.

"Ruby!? Why aren't you helping her?! She could be dangerous for all we know!" Weiss pulled out her weapon and rushed in to help.

"Weiss, wait!" Ruby tried to stop her too, but just like Yang, she wasn't successful.

"Ruby..." The voice of her other teammate, Blake, spoke as she also caught up. "What's going on?"

"I found this girl sleeping against a tree. I got worried and began to check for injuries. I didn't find any, but she woke up and started to assume I was dangerous."

"We got to settle them down."

"Yes, you're right."

Iris glanced to the side and noticed someone else rushing in. "Shit! More of them!"

 _"Should we do it, Iris?"_ Iris reached for a grey case that hanged off of her lower back.

"No, we don't need to, at least not yet," Iris said.

"Yang! What happened?" Weiss asked.

"I found her threatening Ruby, and she fired at me when I showed up!"

"Come on, let's do this together! It'll end faster if we work together."

"She's a little bit troublesome and I do want to do myself, but you're right." They turned their attention to the girl and they noticed she was aiming at them

Weiss flicked her wrist to make a glyph appear in front of them, and the bullets bounced off the glyph. They both noticed Iris run off into the forest to try and gain some distance between them. "We can't let someone like her escape!" Weiss said as they chased after her.

* * *

After thinking she put enough distance between those two. Iris came to a stop since she figured she couldn't outrun them. Iris hopped on one of the tree branches to hide. She patiently waited for them to arrive. She transformed her spear into a crossbow and quickly reached for one of the pouches for a bolt. She pulled out one that had a red dust crystal attached to it and loaded it into her crossbow. She aimed at her crossbow at the tree she passed. Once again her eyes started to glow again as she stared at the tree and she fired at the tree which the bolt embedded into it and started to glow faintly. She pulled a slightly larger bolt that had a very small container and loaded it into the crossbow. She aimed at the previous bolt she fired and she slowly aimed towards at a different tree like she was calculating something. She fired it at the tree and waited for them to arrive.

Weiss running with Yang up ahead her and she started to wonder how far she could have gotten with the time she had. A clicking noise caught Weiss' attention. She looked to the side in shock as she realized that she sprung her trap. "Yang! Stop!"

* * *

Ruby and Blake chased after their teammates trying to stop them. They both came to a stop when they both heard an explosion in the distance. "What was that?" Ruby asked.

"I don't know. Let's hurry!" Before they could continue the chase something caught Ruby's attention. Ruby came to a stop and walked over to the strange object. It was a small and slightly worn out red book. She looked at both sides, but there wasn't a title or anything. After wondering what the contents were Ruby decided to opened it up to read some of it.

"What is it, Ruby?" Blake asked.

"I think I found a journal of some kind," Ruby said before she started to read it out loud. "'It's been a week since I lost my parents to that... monster. I'll never forget it! The sound of its hooves walking on the stone roads. That unholy roar. I'll kill it! If this she didn't find me, I wouldn't have been able to get my revenge.'." Ruby was filled with sadness, knowing what it's like to lose a parent. She flipped to a different page as she continued reading it out loud. "'I don't know when it happened, but there's this strange mark appeared on my hand, just like Moms. I always thought it was some tattoo, but I don't think that's the case. Mom did give me her journal before she and... dad... She told me to read it, but I couldn't look at it. It reminds me too much of that day... But, maybe there's some sort of answers in it.'." Ruby examined the drawing on the same page which looked like a small orb with black markings that looked like it was corrupting it.

"That sounds a little strange," Blake said.

"'I've been training and studying every day since the incident and I've finally been accepted into Sanctum. But, this girl with silver hair keeps bothering me. She's just like everyone else. Only pretending to keep up appearances.' It sounds like this person's from Mistral. Oh, this one's from the same day." Ruby said, but she noticed that it was written a little more frantically than before. "'I can hear it! In the distance! It's faint, but I can hear it! It woke me from my sleep. I can't stop shaking... Why do Faunus have to have such sharp senses?'."

"Something must have scared this person a lot," Blake said. "Come on, we've wasted enough time here."

"R-Right!" Ruby closed the journal and placed it into one of her pouches.

* * *

Weiss watched as the trap went off and the explosion sent Yang flying. Before she could hit the ground the other bolt trap went off which shot a rope at Yang to restrain her. Weiss rushed over to Yang and knelt down next to her to check on her. "Yang! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine... Just worry about her..." Yang said as she struggled against the trap.

Weiss heard rustling coming from one of the trees and she gasped a little once she saw the person they were chasing flying at her. Weiss summoned a glyph between herself and her assailant to block her attack. Iris' spear bounced off the glyph and once she touched the ground she charged forward at Weiss. Weiss readied herself waiting for the right moment to strike. Iris swung her spear at Weiss only for her to counter it. Weiss deciding this was the perfect moment to strike. She went for series of slashes and stabs, but only for Iris to use her spear to block most of her hits.

 _'So fast and precise... If this keeps up, I might be in trouble.'_ Iris thought.

Weiss kept up her assault and dodged whenever her assailant tried to attack. Occasionally, both sides would be able to get a hit in. Iris jumped away from Weiss and quickly changed her spear into her crossbow. Iris fired a bolt next to Weiss the moment she loaded it in and Weiss quickly noticed the red glow. Weiss quickly summoned a glyph underneath her feet to get herself out of the blast zone. The bolt went off and Weiss was able to get to safety, but she once turned her attention back to her assailant. Weiss gasped as she was already close, her boot was inches away from making contact. Iris kicked her with enough force to send her flying into a tree.

"Weiss!" Yang yelled out as she finally freed herself from the trap and rushed to help her teammate. Iris pointed her weapon at her to stop her from coming any closer, but Yang noticed that she started to wobble.

"Not again!" Yang heard Iris mumble to herself so she decided cautiously watch her as a strange purple pulsating glow appeared around Iris that she could only guess was her aura. She watched as Iris' crossbow slipped out of her hand while she fell back on the ground unconscious. Yang walked over to the unconscious girl while Weiss recovered from the last attack.

"What just happened?" Weiss asked.

"I don't know."


	2. A Dream & A Secret

**AN: I didn't even notice that big mistake last chapter. I don't even know how it got past me, but it's fixed now. Hopefully, the last chapter isn't as bad now that I cleaned it up even more.**

* * *

In Beacon's infirmary, Ruby, along with the rest of her team, stood by the bed that had the unconscious Faunus resting. Ruby let out a worried noise and she felt Yang place a hand on her shoulder to try and ease her worries. "Ruby, stop worrying already."

"But... it's my fault. I should have told you guys sooner. What if she's hurt because of us?"

"It is my fault too. I kinda let my emotions get to me." Yang said.

"I still don't trust her," Weiss said.

"And why's that?" Blake said.

"Because she's a Faunus. We don't know if she's apart of those fanatics from the White Fang."

"Weiss, just because she's a Faunus doesn't mean she's a part of the White Fang," Ruby said.

Weiss just simple scoffed at Ruby's notion while she looked away, and Ruby just looked worried. Ruby suddenly remembered what the journal said and shortly after curiosity got the better of Ruby and she decided to remove the blanket to see if that journal was right while the others watched slightly confused about what Ruby was doing. Ruby lifted up the blanket and looked at her right hand was just like the journal said, that strange symbol was on the back of her hand. It looked exactly like the journal showed. _'It was just like it said.'_ Ruby thought.

Before they could say anything else the door behind them opened up to reveal one of the professor's of Beacon Academy, Glynda Goodwitch. She took a couple of steps towards RWBY before she spoke. "Alright, ladies. I believe it's time to leave. You have classes to attend, and she needs her rest which you are currently bugging her. She only has a few scratches and bruises. Nothing to worry about."

"Yes, Ma'am," Weiss said.

Glynda watched as team RWBY left the room, and she looked at Iris for a moment before following team RWBY out.

* * *

 _It was rather dark and she could feel a slight breeze brushing against her face. She could faintly hear the sound of leaves rustling as the wind blew against. Not long after that, she could hear a voice calling out to her that sounded familiar and calming. The voice progressively got louder and louder each time it called out to her._

 _"...is?...Iris? Iris!" Iris slowly opened her eyes to see the mountain scenery that Mistral was known for. She tiredly rubbed her right eye but stopped since it felt off, but couldn't quite explain it. She looked at her hand to see that her left hand was bandaged up._

 _"Hey, Iris?" Iris looked to her right to see a slender young girl with long silver hair that reached to the middle of her back and a pale complexion. She wore a long military-esque white coat with the symbol for Atlas embroidered on her left shoulder and a soft grey vest that was left slightly open with a symbol of two twinkling stars on it and a little blue tie. Underneath the vest was a white formal shirt. A small golden amulet with a huntsman and a huntress rested on top of her chest. She also wore grey knee-high boots and pale blue pants._

 _"Gwyn? What is it?" Iris said._

 _"What is it?" Gywn repeated. "What's wrong with you? Did you even hear a single word I said?"_

 _"Um, no. I'm sorry." Iris apologized._

 _"Geez, you must be tired. How long did you stay up last night?"_

 _"I don't..."_

 _"Anyway, did you hear about that prodigy that joined Sanctum? Apparently, she's very good at combat and pretty much anything else, and it's only been two weeks since she started to attend Sanctum and nobody has been able to beat her in combat training. But I bet she can't hold a candle to you."_

 _"You are clearly overestimating my skills. There's a more than likely reason why she's undefeated it's because she's good and trains seriously."_

 _"Are you kidding? I don't know how you do it, but anyone you face against they are more than likely going to lose. Seriously, when you fight someone you understand their fighting style, their movements in an instant."_ _While Iris listened to Gywn talk as she gently rubbed her bandaged hand while trying to hide it from her. But her efforts were wasted once Gywn noticed the bandages on her hand._

 _"You hurt yourself? How?"_

 _"I'm sorry." Iris once again apologized. Iris looked at Gywn for a second and she noticed that her sky blue eyes were filled with nothing but concern which only made her feel a little bit more terrible. "I don't really know how to handle Dust all that much."_

 _"Well... as long as you don't do that again. I can teach you if you want. I'm from Atlas, and we do know how to handle our Dust."_

 _"I... would like that."_

 _"Great! We can get started whenever you want! It shouldn't take that long to teach you. For some reason, you pick up on things at a surprising rate."_

 _"Yeah... I'm ready if you want to get started."_

 _"Great!" Gywn placed her hand on top of Iris' gloved hand before she started to hold it. "Let's go prepare." Gywn started to lead Iris back to Sanctum and as she was being led a bright light started to blind Iris._

* * *

Iris opened her eyes and stared at an unfamiliar ceiling. "A dream?" Iris said to herself as she reached up and touched the eye patch on her left eye. She let her hand drop to her side before she sat up on the bed.

After inspecting the room a little she noticed that most of her equipment was lying on top of a table. Iris threw the blanket off of her and she wondered where they could have taken her. The only thing she could tell was that she was in some kind of infirmary or a hospital. Iris got up from the bed and walked over to her equipment where she began to put on her armour and other accessories, amulet, scarf, etc. After fastening her forearm guards, Iris stared at the mark on the back of her hand. She had a painful look on her face as she remembered those terrible times where she felt useless. Iris grabbed her glove and covered up the mark before she went to the door to leave.

"I still have my Dust and ammunition, but where are my weapons?" Iris said to herself while she roamed the empty halls. Not long she started to hear the sound of heels clicking on the floor. Just around the corner, she ran into a blonde woman with a riding crop. Iris tensed up a little as she prepared herself for whatever is to come.

"I see you're awake now. Good. There's someone who would like to speak with you." Since she didn't have a weapon on her, she was forced to listen to the blonde woman as she led her somewhere.

* * *

Eventually, they arrived at a room that looked like the inside of an old clockwork tower. At the other side of the room stood a man in a dark green suit and grey hair. He was currently standing next to the window that gave him the view of Vale. The man sipped some coffee from his mug before turning his attention to the new arrival.

"I see that you're awake. Good." He said as the blonde woman who brought her here stood beside the man.

 _"Ask him where we are."_

"Be quiet! That's exactly what I'm trying to do." Iris whispered to herself. Ozpin chuckled a little after finding the situation a little familiar.

"Where am I?" Iris asked.

"You weren't informed? My apologies. You are currently at Beacon Academy in Vale. I'm the headmaster, Ozpin." Iris relaxed a little after receiving that information. "What's your name?"

"Uh, it's Iris. Iris Aster."

"Aster?"

"Yeah." Ozpin stared at Iris for a few seconds, but she couldn't tell what he was thinking. Shortly after, Ozpin spoke up again and asked his next question.

"So... care to tell me what you were doing out in the middle of the forest by yourself?"

"I was headed towards Vale."

"On foot?"

"Yes," Iris said. "I technically wasn't... by myself."

"What do you mean?"

"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you."

"Well, you would be surprised."

Iris stared at Ozpin for a second wondering whether or not to tell him. Iris sighed a little as she decided to tell since it wouldn't hurt. "Okay, I'll tell you,"

 _"Are you sure you want to tell him?"_

"Yes, I'm sure. He seems trustworthy enough... maybe." Iris whispered.

"So what won't I believe?"

"I don't know how or why, but I... It's like I have..." Iris tried to explain, but couldn't find the right words. "Well... I'm one hundred percent certain that I have... another soul in my body."

"What?" Glynda said.

"Every time I've told someone this they thought I was crazy, or I had multiple personality disorder or something like that." Iris looked at the headmaster, but just like before, she couldn't tell what he was thinking.

"Would you care to show us if you're telling us the truth. Just telling us, isn't exactly proof."

Iris took a deep breath and Ozpin watched as Iris closed her right eye for a few seconds. Once Iris opened her eye, Ozpin noticed it was glowing purple and it changed from purple to blue.

"Hello." Ozpin noticed the change in her tone of voice. Before it was filled with someone who couldn't trust anyone and slightly hesitant, but now it was calm and full of trust. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Gwyn. Gwyn Seren. If Iris trusts you, then I know I can definitely trust you."


	3. A Small Deal

**AN: I have totally forgotten that I finished this chapter so long ago. I've changed a couple of things in the last chapter. It's about the other person inside Iris' body, I've changed her name and now, I've decided to pair her with someone. I didn't really know how to pair her with someone at first since the person she's in is paired with someone else but now I what I'm doing.**

* * *

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Gwyn Seren." Ozpin watched as Iris spoke in a completely different tone than before, it was like she was a completely different person. That was enough to convince Ozpin that she was telling the truth.

"So it seems you are telling the truth," Ozpin said.

"You actually believe us?" Gywn said.

"Yes."

"Oh, wow. I didn't think you would. You must have seen a lot of strange things to believe us so quickly."

"Yes, I guess you could say that."

"You know, it feels good to be out like this. Normally it's Iris who's in control."

"Does she not let you control?"

"Well, only when I ask. It's mainly because I don't really ask. If I do have control it's because something happened."

"If something happens? What do you mean?" Ozpin asked.

"When I say something happens, what I really mean is mental exhaustion. The body may be fit and rested, but we still have to deal with that."

"Now tell me, how did this come to be? Two souls existing in one body should not be possible."

"I... I honestly don't know. I just remember visiting my older brother with Iris back in Mistral and then... I'm like this. I want to ask Iris, but I don't think I could handle the news even though I already feel like I know the answer."

"I see."

 _"Can I have control back?"_ Iris asked.

"What? You want control back? Sure, it's your body." Once again Ozpin watched the mysterious girl's eye glow blue and changed to purple.

"Would you care to tell me how this happened?" Ozpin asked.

"No," Iris said with no hesitation.

"I see. Fair enough, it must be a painful memory."

"Are we done? I'd like my weapons back please."

"One more thing, then you can leave."

"Okay, what is it?"

"Someone of your... nature would make a fine addition to our school. Would you care to join us?"

"You want _me_ to join Beacon Academy? Someone you found in the middle of nowhere who could be up to something that isn't good."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Let's say that I feel a certain... kinship with you."

"Kinship? What do mean by that?" Iris stared at Ozpin suspiciously before she ended up shrugging off the strange comment. "Whatever... no offence, Headmaster. But, if I ever do decide to continue my training, I'd rather do at Haven Academy instead."

"I see. Fair enough." Ozpin said. "You said you were visiting from outside Vale, correct?"

"Yeah...? Why?"

"I was just wondering what your living conditions were like during your visit to Vale?"

"Uh..."

"If you'd like, you can stay at Beacon for the duration of your visit. On the condition that you at least attend combat training."

"You really want me to attend Beacon Academy, do you?"

"No, you already said you didn't want to attend and I respect your decision. It's more along the lines to hone your skills while your here."

 _"We don't have that much money_ _and we have nowhere to sleep_ _... I'd think it's wise to accept his offer."_ Gywn said.

"Alright, fine. I'll accept your offer. I'll go to these classes _if_ nothing comes up."

"Splendid!"

"Now, can I have my weapons back?"

"Of course. Just try not to cause a ruckus. Glynda? Mind showing her where we are keeping her weapons?"

"Yes, of course."

"We'll let you know where you'll be staying later."

* * *

Iris walked down the hallways of Beacon with Glynda in front of her while she leads the way to her weapons. It was mostly quiet, but occasionally she could hear someone talking from some of the rooms they passed by. It was more than likely the Professors of the Academy teaching their students. After fifteen minutes of walking, they eventually arrived at a room with lockers lined up against the walls. She looked around and wondered what this room was used for, but she had an idea what it could be. Iris stopped when Glynda stood in front of one of the lockers and began to punch a code in, and the locker opened up to reveal all her weapons. Iris tried to take her weapons back, but an arm stopped her from doing so.

"I don't particularly agree with Professor Ozpin's decision. We don't know a thing about you."

"At least you're sensible."

"Well, I guess it doesn't matter now. Just try not to cause trouble while you're here."

"Yes, you both made it clear," Iris said.

Iris watched Glynda leave the room leaving her alone in the locker room. Iris turned to the locker and began to grab her weapons. Her spear was in its collapsed form, and all the ammo she was carrying were lying on top of the locker. She grabbed them and placed them in their appropriate places. At the bottom of the locker was a long grey case, she knelt down and picked it up. Iris placed on its holster at her lower back before shutting the locker door.

 _"That Ozpin was... weird, right?"_ Gywn said.

"Yes..." Iris agreed.

 _"Yeah, I mean, I didn't expect him to believe us so quickly."_

"Maybe one day we'll find out why."

 _"Yeah, I'm sure we will... Hey, Iris?"_

"Yes?"

 _"I'm feeling a little exhausted. So, I'm going to rest for now, okay?"_

"I got it."

 _"Promise me you won't do anything while I'm gone, okay? I know we're not rested enough to go back out there and fight."_

"...I promise."

 _"Okay, good."_ With that, Iris was left by herself as she roamed the halls.

* * *

In a classroom, Ruby and her team sat and listened to professor Oobleck's lecture about a pivotal moment during the Great War. Both Yang and Ruby barely put any attention on the lecture due to boredom, but their partners, Blake and Weiss, paid more attention to the lecture. Weiss wrote down notes while she listened, and Blake just simply listened to it.

"...and that concludes today's lesson," Oobleck said as the bell rang to signal class was over.

"Finally! It's over!" Yang said with a yawn as she stood up from her spot and started to stretch a little. "So, what now?"

"I'm... gonna go check up on her."

"Again? Well, okay." Just as Ruby stood up she noticed someone outside the window. When she looked a little more closely, she noticed it was Iris who was outside.

"I gotta go!" Ruby said, and the moment she passed the door, she disappeared in a flurry of rose petals. Leaving her teammates confused about what just happened.

* * *

Iris had just finished exploring quite a bit of the Academy and now she started to wander the back of the Academy. There wasn't much here, but it was a quiet spot, which was something Iris was looking for. A place to not be bothered while she was here. After a while, she sat down on a nearby bench to rest for a little bit and work on something. Once she sat down on the bench she began to dig around in her pockets. She pulled out two little books, at least, what should have been two books, but the only one that she grabbed was the one that was blue and slightly worn out.

"Wait!? Where's my journal?! I couldn't have left it back in the infirmary. I wouldn't forget something like that. Maybe I dropped it in Forever Fall. I sure hope not." Before she could begin her search a few rose petals flew by her face.

"Um..." A shy voice caught her attention and when turned towards the direction of the voice which happened to belong to Ruby. Iris noticed that she was holding something in her hand and upon closer inspection, she realized it was her journal. "I came here to... return this. You dropped this back in Forever Fall."

Iris reached out to Ruby's hand and took the journal from her. "...Thank you, Ruby."

"You're welcome." Ruby stood around awkwardly while Iris was flipping through her journal to make sure that it was still in good condition. Iris stopped when she noticed that Ruby hasn't left yet. "You can go now."

"O-Oh! I just wanted to know something."

"Okay? What?"

"I wanted to know if you wanted to talk... or something." Ruby shyly asked.

"No..."

"Oh..." Ruby slumped down a little before she slowly turned to leave, but Iris' voice stopped her.

"...Is what I normally would say, but you returned my journal. I'm grateful for that."

"Really?!"

"Yes, we can... talk. But only later, right now leave me alone."

"Uh, s-sure," Ruby said before leaving Iris by herself.

Iris watched Ruby leave before turning her attention back to her journal. Iris flipped through the pages until she found a blank page. Digging around in her pocket, Iris pulled out a pen and began writing.

"Today, while I was searching a place to rest. A group of girls found me. Since I didn't know them, I assumed that they were bandits or something similar to that, but apparently, they were students. I was eventually knocked out, not due to lack of skill, it just happened again. The next thing I knew, I woke up in some strange place which happened to be Beacon. The Headmaster, Ozpin, is holding some sort of secret and I'm going to try and find out what. What does he mean by 'Kinship'? I have an idea, but... that should be impossible. I know it happened to me, but somebody else?" Iris closed her journal and stared at the trees as the wind blew against them.

* * *

 **AN: If you have any questions go ahead and ask them.**


	4. Combat Practise

In the dead of night at the Warehouses in Vale, multiple gunshots could be heard from one of the Warehouses. A large group of White Fang surrounded Iris to capture her and two of the White Fang members charged at her, but only to be met with a boot to the face. Iris aimed at the group and fired her crossbow at them with electric Dust bolts successfully stunning a couple of them. Iris transformed her crossbow back into a spear before hitting one of the White Fang with the shaft of the spear and kicked another in the stomach. She swept one off his feet before slamming him into the ground. One tried to flank her in her blind spot, but the plan didn't work since his face met with the bottom end of her spear. The battle went on for quite a while until Iris was able to beat them all.

 _"Are we done? It looks like it."_ Gwyn asked.

"Not yet. We need to tie them up."

 _"Okay, let's go back and get some rest, okay?"_

"Yes... of course." Iris transformed her spear into its crossbow form and started loading up capture bolts. One by one, Iris fired the capture bolts at the unconscious White Fang members until they were all tied up. She stared at them for a few seconds before leaving to the authorities care.

 _"Is this really all the White Fang is capable of?"_ Gwyn asked.

"No, these ones more than likely haven't seen that much combat or just recently begun training. There's quite a few out there that are quite skilled, and I don't even know if I can take them out if we run into them."

 _"I see._ _That means we're going have to keep training._ _"_ While Iris walked down the empty streets of Vale, she could faintly hear sirens in the distance. Suddenly out of nowhere, she felt incredibly weak which made her drop to her knees. Iris looked at her hands to see a purple pulsating glow around them and it seemed to alternate between purple and blue.

"Just in time... If this happened while we were fighting, we would be in big trouble."

 _"No kidding. At least we aren't as tired as before."_

"Yes. Let's get back." Iris said as stood back up and continued onward.

* * *

 _ **Next Morning**_

Ruby sitting next to her teammates in the library since there was a small break in between classes while they idly sat around Blake's currently reading a book, Weiss was trying to ignore all the attempts Ruby tried to make friends, and Yang was currently trying bugging Blake. During this Ruby have up her attempts to make friends with Weiss when she noticed their break was close to being over. "Alright, come on you three. Class will be starting pretty soon." Weiss said.

"Yes! Weiss is right. Come on! Off to combat training." Ruby said as Blake closed her book and Yang following right behind them.

At the entrance, Iris, but Gwyn was currently in control, entered the library who looked pretty amazed at the amount of Beacon had. It was greater than she had seen even put Sanctum Academy to shame. Gwyn smiled a little in excitement as she always enjoyed reading, learning about all the possible worlds that people have created, or sometimes to learn something about the history of Remnant. Before she could even pick a book to read, a familiar voice called out to her and she looked back to see Ruby and her team. Weiss didn't even bother to stop and she walked by with scowl on her face. "What's her problem?" Gwyn said to herself.

"Iris!"

"Oh, Ruby. I didn't expect to see you here. You didn't exactly strike me as the book reading type."

"I don't know about that. I mean I read occasionally... Mainly about heroes who saved the day, that sort of thing."

"Oh! So, comic books then?"

"Y-Yeah... I mean I do read other types of books."

"I know how it feels. Any book is great to read if you can immerse yourself in it. I've read a comic book that I really liked. It's been so long I forgot what it was called. It was like X something."

"Oh? Really?"

"You know I never noticed before because I was too focused on the potential danger, but now that I look at you. You're so small and adorable!" Gwyn said with a smile as she placed a hand on top of the embarrassed team leader, but Gwyn quickly pulled her hand back. _'Damn! Iris doesn't speak like this!'_

"Uh... Oh! I believe we haven't introduced ourselves yet." Gwyn tried to change the conversation once she noticed the two others standing behind but judging from their slightly confused looks on their faces it didn't work.

"Uh... I didn't expect that, but whatever. I'm Yang Xiao Long, and I'm sorry for getting angry and attacking you before."

"All is forgiven."

"I'm Blake Belladonna." Everyone found it pretty strange when they noticed Gwyn was just staring at Blake completely speechless. Gwyn felt her heart, or Iris' heart, start to beat a little bit faster as she stared at the beautiful raven-haired girl in front of her.

"So beautiful... Is this what love is like...?" Gwyn muttered under her breath but once she noticed the confused looks from Ruby and Yang. She faked coughed to try to make it look like she was clearing her throat, but what made matters worse when she looked glanced towards Blake, it looked like she heard what she said judging her expression was that of someone who has some questions. "Who was that other person before!" Gwyn desperately tried to change the subject.

"Um... Oh yeah! The person that walked by you before is Weiss Schnee!" Ruby said.

"A Schnee, huh? I didn't think she would go to a combat school. I guess she's following in her-"

"Uh, do you know Weiss or something?" Ruby asked.

"Oh, no! I only heard of them and I did meet one of them. Oh! I almost forgot to introduce myself. Well, I'm Gw- I mean, Iris Aster."

"Uh, I hate to break up this little chat, but we're going to be late for class if we don't hurry," Blake said.

"Oh! That's right!" Ruby realized.

"Oooh! Which class are you going to?" Gwyn asked.

"Combat Training!"

"Really!? Ozpin said we can attend if we wanted!"

"Really? Ozpin said that?" Yang said.

"Wait, we?" Blake said after realizing what she just said.

"Come on! Let's go! I want to see what different kinds of fighting styles the people of Vale use. I love the difference of fighting styles between Kingdoms! It's going to be so exciting!" Gwyn said as she dragged Ruby along with her while Blake and Yang looked pretty confused since this wasn't what they expected her to act like that.

* * *

After Ruby showed Gwyn where the students at Beacon go for combat training to improve their skills and once she arrived all the students who have already arrived wondered who the new person is. Gwyn excitedly sat down on one of the empty seats waiting for the first match while the rest of Ruby's team sat down with Weiss. The first match began shortly after Glynda arrived with the students showing off what they learned and Glynda giving them some advice to improve in areas they were lacking in. After three more fights between the students Glynda looked among the students to see who's next and once her eyes landed on Gwyn and she spoke up. "You! Miss Aster! You're next since you decided to attend."

Gwyn looked around to see who she called out but when no student stood up to answer her it quickly dawned on her who she meant. She started to panic since close combat was never her specialty and that only made her a little bit more scared. Gwyn slowly made her way over to the arena where Glynda was standing waiting for her to arrive. _'Oh, no! I suck at close combat._ _Come on, Iris. Wake up!_ _'_ Gwyn thought as she reached for Iris' spear and the weapon shook slightly while she gripped it a little too tightly as she waited for Glynda to pick the fighter for her match.

"Hmm... Ah! What about you, Miss Schnee?"

"Of course," Weiss said as she prepared herself for a battle against Iris who she didn't know that someone else is in control. Both Gwyn and Weiss stared at each other, but it seemed like Weiss was just glaring at her for reasons she didn't understand. Gwyn looked up at the monitor and everyone seemed to notice that Gwyn's Aura bar was glitching out in all sorts of manners like not stay in a bar form or the bar emptying or filling rapidly. Once the Aura bar for Gwyn settled down everyone found that to be extremely weird since that has never happened before.

"Alright, you may begin!" Without wasting any time Weiss began her assault which surprised Gwyn and she dodged every one of Weiss' attacks.

 _'I'm so glad that Iris is so_ _agile_ _. I'm a lot faster now_ _than I was before_ _.'_ Gwyn thought as she narrowly avoids one of her strikes and she decided to attack too which resulted in a very clumsy swing. Weiss easily blocked the attack as she countered which she was able to land a few good blows. Gwyn tried her best to beat Weiss but the heiress had way more experience with close combat than her. When she was knocked back by Weiss' attack, Gwyn looked up and noticed that more than a quarter of her Aura was gone. Gwyn dodged every attack that she could but the heiress was able to get a couple of hits in and she was starting to worry until a voice called out.

 _"What's going on?"_ Iris asked.

"Oh, Iris! You're awake!" Gwyn whispered to herself.

"What's she mumbling to herself?" Weiss said.

"I'm in combat class that Ozpin said we could attend. I didn't expect to pick when I came here. My combat style isn't suited to something like this! Could you take over the match for me?"

 _"Fine,"_ Iris said as she switched with Gwyn and once again to everyone's confusion the aura monitor glitched out for a few seconds before returning to normal. Weiss noticed Iris' stance changed from someone who was clumsy and ill experienced to someone with a lot of skill and experience. Weiss kept her guard up as she noticed Iris' eye that wasn't covered by hair was faintly glowing purple which she could only assume was her semblance at work.

Ruby, Blake, and Yang watched as the fight started to get serious since both sides started to bring their A game. Ruby was amazed at what Iris' weapon could since it could change sizes like a long spear to a short spear, or even javelin so she could throw it if need be. Her crossbow was something else too since it could fire so many different kinds of customized bolts. Ruby snapped out of her weapon fantasy when she heard Yang say something. "Who do you think will win?"

"Who knows... this Iris person seems skilled," Blake said.

"I hope Weiss wins! Since Weiss is our teammate, my best friend and partner. Go, Weiss!" Ruby cheered once she put her attention back into the match and she noticed that both sides Aura was close to getting in the red zone.

Iris dodged each of the Dust projectiles from Weiss' Glyphs and she fired a fire Dust bolt at Weiss which she was able to escape the explosion. Iris stared at her opponent waiting for her to make the next move and she started to think about her opponent's capabilities. _'What is this semblance? It's so... versatile. Not only is it capable of shooting projectiles, but she can mix it with Dust to make different kinds of attacks and special effects... and what is this? Summoning? Why hasn't she used it? Is she holding back on me? Or is it that she can't use it?'_

 _"Iris! Look out!"_ Gwyn warned her since she was too deep in thought to notice and she tried to block the final attack Weiss tried to deliver. To her surprise, Weiss was able to disarm her and watched as her weapon skipped across the arena. Weiss once again went for the final attack to end the match but when she tried to attack, she was surprised to see Iris dodge her attack the last second with incredible speed. Weiss tried to attack again but Iris grabbed her weapon preventing her attacking. Iris hit Weiss with an Aura-infused punch which sent her flying into the wall and Glynda called the match. Everyone looked at the monitor to see both Weiss and Iris' Aura meter are both in the red zone.

"That concludes the match. It seems to have ended in a draw." Glynda said as the bell rang signalling the class has ended. "That will be all for today."

 _"I'm sorry, Iris. You would have won if I wasn't so bad at close combat."_ Gwyn said apologetically.

"It's fine. This was only a training match." Iris said as she went to pick up her weapon from the ground as she left the class she failed to see Weiss glaring at her. "Though, I should have beaten her. I've been outside the safety of the Kingdoms. That forces you to learn and be better faster than any combat school can teach you."

 _"You're right. My marksmanship has improved so much more than when I was in Sanctum."_ Gwyn said.

"That's it."

 _"That's what?"_

"I can't accept it. If I can't beat someone who's still in training than I'm clearly not ready. I'm going to attend each combat training class."

 _"Really? Okay, then."_

Ruby, Blake, and Yang walked over to Weiss was getting ready to leave and they went to check up on her just to make sure she was okay. "Weiss! Are you okay?" Ruby was the first to ask.

"I'm fine, Ruby."

"Oh, that's good," Ruby said with a relieved sigh.

"What do you think that was?" Yang asked.

"What do you mean?" Blake asked.

"During Weiss' fight. What sort of tactic was that?"

"Do you mean how she looked like she didn't know how to fight?" Ruby said.

"Yeah, that was strange."

"Well, judging from her actions at the beginning I'd say she genuinely didn't know how to fight," Blake said. "What's strange is how she was just a novice one second but then suddenly becoming a skilled warrior the next."

"That is pretty strange." Ruby agreed as she looked back to Iris walking out the door with the other students and some tried to talk to her but she just ignored them and continued out the door.

* * *

 **AN: Yeah, you could probably tell what Iris' semblance just from that battle, it shouldn't be that hard to guess what it is. If you have questions, ask away.**


End file.
